Abstract

The strong forces of transformation and change characterising our contemporary society, pose considerable challenges to control and stability that used to be two common features of the urban project. Traditional instruments used for describing and representing reality are no longer adequate for analysing an ever changing, complex world, rapidly aggregating, dissolving, and reassembling itself.
This situation can be understood and analysed in the light of the functionalistic paradigm that influences and gives shape to methods of knowledge, analysis and planning traditionally used in urban contexts. This paradigm builds on an conception of reality organised according to a hierarchical and centralised order, steered by heavy and rigid codes, often interpreted as formal rules used as instruments in spatial projects. The approach appears to be inadequate for analysing and confronting contemporary realities in urban contexts in our contemporary world, that are characterised by less formality and increased flexibility.
In this perspective, this thesis reflects on the possibilities of introducing approaches and methods that would include and integrate dynamics that are generally excluded from the urban project discourse. The research takes on an open and constructive approach to informal aspects and phenomena in urban contexts, and aims at exploring if and how some processes can become catalysts capable of enriching the conceptualising, prospecting and planning of urban space.